2025 Advocacy Wrap Up
Another full year
2025 was another busy year for advocacy. Progress was made on a variety of fronts and the work will never end. On some efforts we’re the lead, and on others we’re a contributing supporter. It’s been great to see various groups such as the Stewards of Briones and Mount Diablo Trails Alliance bring a strong, focused effort on one area. Those strong areas of focus are able to maximize impact per effort. We tend to have a broader lay of the landscape, which brings a different type of impact but may not yield as many results in the short term. Maybe at some point we’ll scale back toward a more narrow focus. For now, we’ll keep this broader focus which is, in part, a connector role. If you’ve got a particular focus you’d like to see move forward — and, in particular, if you’ve got time to put in on it — drop us a line at advocacy@btceb.org and let’s see what we might be able to do together.
In that broader sense, let’s give a shout out to Bay Area Mountain Biking (BAMBi), a Facebook group that is now a 501(c)3. They’ve taken a role as an amplifier and communications platform for the counties around the Bay and sometimes a little beyond. They may not drive specific advocacy issues but they are a platform to potentially reach members of the mountain bike community that individual organizations may not reach with their core membership. We appreciate that they joined CAMTB this year.
Briones – no longer just a pilot: Briones Pilot Project trails were adopted and Ordinance 38 updated by the EBPRD Board in December 2024, so 2025 marked the first full year of long-term legal access to singletrack in Briones. The Stewards of Briones continue to partner with park district staff on trail maintenance and improvements which saw the addition of a very flowy section to the top of Curl of the Burl and continued improvements to Hank & Frank and Radio Tower. This past fall saw the first of hopefully many trail mixer events at Briones. It was a joint effort with Bay Area Bike Project, Stewards of Briones, BTCEB, and the park district that brought mountain bikers, equestrians, hikers, and trail runners together. There were group rides and a group run before the mixer and then ate tacos cooked by SOB’s own Robby Myer while socializing during the mixer.
Wildcat Flow Trail: The Wildcat Flow Trail project continues to move forward. Late in 2025 the EBRPD confirmed approval to proceed with an EIR and approved issuing a contract for that work. The EIR is expected to be completed in 2026 and will be the next major milestone.
Wildcat Youth Advocacy: BTCEB takes a supporting role in this effort led by Cortis Cooper and Barbara Smith which has activated and engaged about 10 middle and high school students in advocacy focused around the Wildcat Flow trail. This is one the most important advocacy efforts happening in the East Bay as it is truly developing our advocates of the future as they come of age.
CAMTB: BTCEB continues to participate in and benefit from CAMTB. We are active on the Advisory Council, through the Legislation & Government Affairs Committee, and attending Leadership Roundtable sessions. BTCEB was the top all volunteer organization in their joint bike giveaway fundraising.
Singletrack Summit (Central Region) in Marin: BTCEB was very active with 5 Board members and 2 general members attending. We were also able to get 4 East Bay Regional Park District staff to attend. BTCEB led a session with the Stewards of Briones and East Bay Regional Park District on the Briones Pilot Project. We also had strong participation at the Caballo Rojo Dig Day at Tamarancho.
Sierra Club engagement: Mountain bikers continue to be engaged in the local Sierra Club chapter and saw a revision in the local mountain bike policy and improved relationships with local land managers. The mountain bikers are engaging on a number of topics besides trails and access for bikes including wildfire risk management and other conservation issues.
BATC: We continued participation in the Bay Area Trails Collaborative and have participated in group meetings and the trail development committee. BATC looks at the overall trail network in the Bay Area. While it has a strong emphasis on active transportation-type trails they are active in influencing and working with government entities. It is another opportunity to understand and contribute to the broader advocacy and policy landscape.
CA Trails & Greenways: We participated again this year and took in a number of useful sessions related to bike access. Trails and Greenways continues to see strong attendance by many mountain bike advocacy groups and CAMTB leadership. It’s a great opportunity to have face-to-face discussions with our clan. The 2026 Trails and Greenways conference will be in San Ramon.
EBRPD Board Engagement: BTCEB board and members were able to have direct meetings with several of the directors as they were preparing for their annual planning and prioritization workshop. We took this opportunity to share our top priorities and ask for their support. We were also able to engage directors, management, and at several board site tours. We continue to build constructive relationships and have dialogue with both elected decision makers and staff.
EBRPD PAC: Our advocacy director, Scott Bartlebaugh, was appointed to the EBRPD Park Advisory Committee and served the first year of his two year term. He was also a member of the PAC Finance Committee. Efforts continue to increase bike supportive membership on the Park Advisory Committee and build positive working relationships with PAC members. If you might have an interest in becoming a PAC member, let’s talk about how to make that happen.
EBRPD Crockett Hills cattle management: 2025 was another good year with successful rotation of the cattle and avoiding trail damage due to grazing. This marks the third successful season of rotation of the cattle off the trails during the wet part of the year. The rehabilitated pond and new well continue to function to provide additional flexibility on cattle rotation. We continue to advocate with staff and the elected directors on the importance of planning cattle grazing to protect trails while managing fuel loads.
EBRPD Volunteer Trail Work Expansion: BTCEB was in a supporting role for the NICA team efforts in Tilden and Wildcat Canyon parks. We’ve had some initial discussions with the park supervisor at Chabot Regional Park and hope to hold a work day in 2026. Crockett Hills staff supported increased access in 2026 for weekday work which helped increase our effort, efficiency, and impact. We were also asked to participate in the Bay Area Ridge Trail Day of Service in November which connected us with a different segment of the trail community than we normally connect to. Efforts were made to expand volunteer trail work opportunities in the district parks but progress was minimal. Efforts are underway for some trail stewardship events with John Muir Land Trust at Fernandez Ranch. A V-O-Cal Project in Joaquin Miller Park is also in works for 2026. Work on setting up a Castle Park re-route is also looking like it will come together in 2026. Progress is being made on several fronts.
John Muir Land Trust: Two more parcels, the Kenneth Gerlack Preserve and Barnett Ranch, have been acquired along Franklin Ridge, and both parcels are expected to open in 2026. A new singletrack with bike access is in planning for the Gelack Preserve and will hopefully come in 2026. These acquisitions are one step closer to public access routes that will connect from both Briones and Mt. Wanda to Fernandez Ranch.
JMP & FOSC: BTCEB and Friends Of Sausal Creek held a joint trail work day in Joaquin Miller Park addressing both trail and conservation issues, including re-routing the top of Orchard Trail. This was our first collaborative effort at this scale with FOSC.
BTCEB Advocacy Committee: Our advocacy committee continues to meet regularly to stay up to speed with our annual plan and to further engage additional people in advocacy efforts. The BTCEB Strategic plan includes an effort to help expand our base of active members to help make our advocacy sustainable into the future.
California State Parks – Classification Process: We attended several in person and virtual meetings about the classification process for Alameda-Tesla and expanded our communications efforts to inform our community and to activate them to participate in the process. In 2026 we expect to see a staff recommendation on the park classification go to the California State Parks Commission for their review and decision. We continue to work closely with CAMTB on this project.
Mount Diablo Trails Alliance: We continue to stay in contact with and support the Mount Diablo Trails Alliance team which became a formal 501(c)3 non-profit in 2025. They continued their trail stewardship work in 2025 and readied ambitious plans for trail stewardship, implementation of key bike access elements of the Roads and Trails Management Plan, additional change in use requests, and a trail etiquette program.
This work was all done by volunteers. We ask for your support of this work by becoming a BTCEB member today if you’re not already a member. If you’re already a member, thank you! If you’d like to become more active in our advocacy efforts please reach out via advocacy@btceb.org. Supporting our organization via membership management, event support, and communications is also fundamental to our advocacy. Please reach out if those are areas you are interested in helping or if you’d like to help in some other way.
While we are currently all volunteers we are working out a plan that will likely include paid staff to assist in increasing our advocacy capabilities, our trail stewardship, and community building. Watch for more in 2026 as we develop this strategic effort. ‘Til then, Happy Trails!
Scott Bartlebaugh, Advocacy Director
